Help with Dell! What are my rights?

Timmy

I'll keep this short if I can. I recently bought a Dell laptop through the website. After a few days I noticed a problem charging the battery. Called them 8 days after receiving the laptop and they send a new battery. This didn't solve anything so I call them again and they say it needs a new motherboard. I tell them I want a new laptop instead of a repair but I'm told that because it's over 7 days since receiving the laptop, a new one isn't an option. I make a bit of a fuss and the guy convinces me that even if his supervisor agrees to a new one it would take 10 days minimum after the order was processed but a repair would have a 4 day turnaround as he would 'fasttrack' it.

2 weeks after collecting my laptop they call me and say they're still waiting on the spare part! I'm expecting another call from customer services and was hoping someone could tell me where I stand before they call.

Should I be legally entitled to a replacement rather than a repair?

hjb123

I wouldnt have thought that you are legally entitled to a replacement! How long is it now since you purchased the laptop? Did you buy it from Dell online?

You may want to check out the following sites:
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/your-rights/fs_c04.shtml
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Faulty+goods+-+what+can+I+doQ?opendocument#I%20want%20a%20refund

Timmy

Bought it from Dell online and had it for only 8 days before reporting the fault. Seeing as it was a fault with recharging the battery (which turns out to be a faulty motherboard) I didn't notice it for a few days as I was running it from the mains. The fault occured on the first recharge so I guess it was faulty from day one.

I bought it online about 4 or 5 weeks ago at a guess.

Thanks for the links. I'll have a look.

Astaroth

If the item was faulty at the time of purchase you would be entitled to a replacement/ refund rather than a repair. As a general rule of thumb if the item goes faulty within the first 6 months it can be assumed that the intrinsic fault was there when it was purchased. This is only a guideline however and if it was successfully argued by Dell that the fault developed after purchase then it would be their choice on how the handle it (repair/ replace/ refund/ discount)

IvanOpinion

I think you have to live with this for another couple of weeks. After 7 days most suppliers deem the item to have been 'accepted' and therefore they are entitled to effect a repair. What then comes into play is that the repair must be done within an acceptable time ... whatever that is ... thereafter you can request a refund or replacement. I would think (and this is only personal opinion) that 28 days is a reasonable time thereafter you should be able to demand a replacement/refund (you could try this earlier).

Ivan

Timmy

Called them up and asked for a supervisor who wasn't there as usual! However he called me back after reading what had happened on his system and offered me a new replacement before I even got a word in. No compensation offered but I've already had a free spare battery out of them when they misdiagnosed the problem first time round so I didn't push my luck!

hjb123

Glad you have it sorted - fingers crossed you get the next one okay and that it works okay too!

Timmy

hjb123 wrote:

Glad you have it sorted - fingers crossed you get the next one okay and that it works okay too!

Cheers! If the next one has problems I'll be after a free upgrade to a better model I think!